Gabrielle Russon
Florida officials are celebrating an environmental milestone in Brevard County that will help clean up contaminated waters.
During a press conference highlighting the state’s investment to restore waterways, Gov. Ron DeSantis announced that the Crane Creek M-1 canal flow restoration project has been completed.
The project will send 2.5 billion gallons of water through a stormwater treatment area, which will remove an estimated 24,000 pounds of nitrogen and 3,100 pounds of phosphorus out of the lagoon each year before the water is restored to the St. Johns River.
“Over 100 years ago, the M-1 Canal was built to control flooding in the area, but it changed the way water naturally flowed between the St Johns River and the Indian River Lagoon,” DeSantis said. Over time, stormwater from more than 5,300 acres in Melbourne, West Melbourne and nearby communities carried harmful nutrients into the lagoon, fueling algae blooms and damaging water quality.
The Governor added that fixing the problem included adding pumps, a pipeline and stormwater treatment area.
Throughout the Summer, DeSantis has traveled across the state with the theme of his daily press conference centered around a project to clean up the environment.
“I don’t think that this is anything that anyone can dispute. Our administration has done more for the Indian River Lagoon than any administration in the history of the state of Florida, and we’re proud of that,” DeSantis said. “We are pushing, pushing, pushing to deliver big results.”
Last month the state opened the Caloosahatchee River (C-43) reservoir, a move that officials called an important step for Everglades restoration. The reservoir can store up to 55 billion gallons of water and will capture excess runoff from Lake Okeechobee in Southwest Florida
DeSantis routinely talks about the importance of Florida’s economy as coastal communities depend on tourism and fishing.
“We are the No. 1 boating and fishing state in the country by a long shot,” DeSantis said Monday. “We have over 4 million licensed anglers. We have coastal towns and inlets across the state that are huge destinations.”
Since 2019, Florida has spent nearly $8 billion to restore and protect the state’s waterways, said Alexis Lambert, Secretary for the Department of Environmental Protection.
